On Mon, Dec 7, 2009 at 5:46 PM, Vagrant Cascadian <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, Dec 07, 2009 at 10:46:01PM +0900, Nigel Barker wrote: >> There was a thread on edubuntu a while ago suggesting that today's >> demands (flash everywhere, streaming this and that) are too much for >> thin clients and that we once again have to join the "hardware arms >> race".
This discussion on the Edubuntu list echoed past discussions on that very list as well as discussions on the K12OSN list, the Schoolforge list, and of course here on the Debian-edu list. Depending on what curricula your school uses, thin clients have either remained useful or they have become all but useless the last few years. The fact of the matter is that here in the U.S. most schools buy web or network based applications that tend to run flash. This trend started around 2005 when a few websites started embedding flash widgets. By 2007 I had to pull my last LTSP, the one where Fedora was born, out of our Department of Education. It was replaced with stand-alone desktops that utilized a roaming profile via a samba/ldap/nfs server. For the last few years, many of us have turned to DRBL because of its ability to run 'fat' clients. With so many schools buying Atom-based chipsets, the CPU power has become something to work with. I tweak a Debian-Edu desktop and then layer the DRBL scripts on top of it. I still manage a few thin client setups in our City and County Parks, but here the scale is limited to a few workstations. > > ...snip... > >> I hope that diskless workstations will become an easy option. I know >> you are currently working on it, and thank you for that! > > yes, diskless workstations are one direction to take. debian-edu is working on > some options for that, and newer versions of LTSP include a configuration > option called LTSP_FATCLIENT which is similar. I've been watching this development with Debian Edu, and It Is The Greatest Development that I Have Read in 4 Years of Tracking all the Education Lists. This is brilliant, simple, elegant, and it bridges the divide between the PI generation and the Atom generation. Thank-you. > > additionally, newer versions of LTSP include support for LOCAL_APPS, running > specific applications locally, while most applications run on the server. Unfortunately, there is almost no teacher in Hawaii's 300 public schools who I can tell to open an editor, modify a file, and then choose which applications to run locally. This falls well outside of the one hour a week for teacher admin parameter. > > and lastly, work is being done on LTSP to support running specific > applications > on the server, but most of them on the thin client. > > so options are on their way or are even already developed, though they all > require more powerful clients. as more people use computers in a wider number > of areas, the demands on the hardware simply increase. > > >> I also hope for a speedier ltsp that allows us to keep up with the >> modern web. What will happen when we move to KDE 4? Could it be >> possible to have a choice of a lighter wm? > > i was extremely impressed by LXDE's performance for an LTSP server. i would > like to work on making that an option for future releases. I will ditto the LXDE performance enhancements and potential for success if included in future releases. > > > live well, > vagrant Aloha --scott -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [email protected] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [email protected]
